When The War Came
by Blooming Mint
Summary: After the events of Miranda, the 'verse has been turned on its axis and with few alternatives available, war has come swiftly. Post-BDM. Rayne.


Almost a year to date from the last time I posted a story (that I'm not giving up on or forgetting now that I'm back!), I bring you the start of this. Let me know what you think.

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><p>The short, shrill whistle was an unwelcome arrow pierced into her thoughts.<p>

"You ain't listenin' to me, Moony." The reproachful look shot towards Jayne Cobb was amplified by those unfamiliar faces gathered around River. It was obvious that she was unimpressed with the intrusion and the plan, those around her blindly following suit with their displeasure.

"Blueprints are flawed." She yawned, though the sly look to those around her for affirmation did not escape Janye's notice. "No one may go where there are not stairs built." Someone standing to her left nodded as if she'd not just spoken a load of _go se_. Someone else managed a derisive chuckle at his expense.

"You can go sit on your _pigu_ with Mal and not listen there, if you're wantin'. Ain't nothin' wrong with the plan." It was a simple scouting mission that Jayne had volunteered for. He didn't trust many of these new faces that had shown up. Browncoats, for sure, and Mal had welcomed them with open arms, but Jayne thought most of those who had shown were too green behind the ears for this kind of work.

The events of Miranda had softened Jayne Cobb's roughness considerably. He didn't see how it could not and there was a quiet acceptance that shifted much of his actions following that dark time. It was such an altering that the crew had taken notice, though none were brave enough to bring this to his attention – save for Simon, who had since also gone silent on the subject. It was almost as if they were waiting for the punch line, the other shoe to drop, the real Jayne to suddenly return. The joke was on them though, this was the real Jayne.

He was never far from River's side, despite the vocal displeasure from those she chose to surround herself with these days. Simon had treated Jayne with big brother-y suspicion at first, intent on dragging the ulterior motive out of the bigger man. It became obvious that Jayne refused to trade verbal and physical barbs with the young doctor after a particularly vicious round of accusations from Simon that left Kaylee near tears and Jayne politely excusing himself from the dinner table without having lifted a spoon.

Jayne volunteered for everything – from transport missions to recon missions to protection details for those the Browncoats thought mighty important to the end goal. He kept himself busy and found that anything he volunteered himself for, River was already signed up. That's how he found himself in this particular situation, on the receiving end of judgmental glares from kids he could have fathered and young men he could take on ten at a time and still come out unharmed.

"She is needed, Captain Daddy will survive without her."

"Course he will, girlie, weren't nothin' but a graze. Ain't takin' all your friends on this little outin', so pick 'em already."

There was an audible grumbling amongst the River fan club and more cursing attributed to Jayne's name than he'd heard since the last time he'd barred them from ruining one of his missions. The lot of them moved like a herd of cattle, even the dumbest look-out would've spotted them a mile away.

Still River stared him down. He was used to her challenging his judgment these days, girl had gotten a bloated head over Miranda and the aftermath, thought she knew everything. If he could only explain to her how wrong she was – ignoring him when he spoke was only the tip of the iceberg.

"Need me to repeat myself? Ain't changin' my mind. Hurry up, sun'll be comin' up soon." He signaled the end of negotiations by turning his head away and spitting into the dirt. He would wait and she would have to decide.

After what Jayne saw to be much too much coddling, River wheedled the numbers down to six reverent followers. Eight was still too many and too dangerous for a normal two person job, but he allowed it, if only to avoid any more needless arguing. They were losing the moon and everyone's plans for the day would be shot to hell if they didn't come back with the strength of the Alliance numbers.

Looking over the crew allowed to stay, Jayne thought they were a sorry excuse for soldiers, but he trusted River's judgment. "Keep up and don't make no sounds." Was all the instruction he offered before checking his side arm and taking off in the direction of the Alliance camp.

The whole time, he could hear them. They were too loud, too fearless, too stupid to be on this mission. It was a mistake to allow it and Jayne could only hope that whatever came down on them did so without a vengeance. He was crouched in some of the underbrush, hissing common sense to those around him – even River seemed to be brushing off his instructions.

Frustrated and pissed off, he turned his attention to the task at hand instead. If they wanted to goof off, they were more than welcome to it. Jayne came to do a job and the job would be done. He dutifully marked down all the appropriate numbers, focusing intently on each scribbled number to make sure it was legible. It may have been that attention to detail that took Jayne's mind away from the dangers of the situation at hand.

Almost too late, he glanced up to see one of the newest members of the group attempting to coax River up to… do something? It looked like the dandy was trying to get a fancified dance out of the girl. At a time like this. Jayne sighed as he shoved the important slip of paper into one of the pockets of his cargo pants.

"What the _gorram_ hell do you think you're doing, Moonbrains? Get d-"

Whatever Jayne had meant to say died in his throat under the gurgling of blood he felt filling his throat. He took two more steps forward, tried to give a watery command and collapsed as his eyes rolled back in his head. No one moved, no one breathed, not even River could do anything but stare at the ex-merc laying face down in a growing pool of red.

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><p>So... that happened. Should I continue? Reviews are the fuel to my muse.<p> 


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